Troon has been selected to manage golf operations at Fairmont St Andrews in Fife, Scotland, which Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate PLC recently purchased for $53.9 million in August. This marks Troon’s 43rd managed property outside of the United States.
“We are working a lot more with our clients in Europe, especially London and Scotland.” said Jeff Woolson, managing director of CBRE Golf & Resort Group, who brokered the sale of the championship facility. “You’re mostly seeing golf courses trading between 9 to 11 percent cap rates. Fairmont St Andrews was six caps. The lower the cap, the higher the price.”
The 520-acre estate features a luxury resort and hotel with more than 200 guest rooms and two championship golf courses built in 2001. The Torrance Course is a par-72 course measuring 7,230 yards. The Scottish links course was originally designed by Sam Torrance and features eight re-designed holes and classic Scottish bunkers. It served as an Open Championship Qualifying Course in 2010. Bruce Devlin designed the Kittocks Course, another par-72 course that measures 7,192 yards.
“We look forward to working closely with the golf and hotel teams on-site to further improve standards and build on the solid base that has been created since it first opened,” Bruce Glasco, chief operating officer, managing director of Troon International Operations, said in news release. “Fairmont St Andrews joins a fine collection of Troon-facilities in the UK, becoming our second Scottish venue and sitting alongside the likes of Prince’s Golf Club, The Grove and Centurion Club, the only Troon Privé club in the U.K.”
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate PLC is a real estate investment group with a portfolio of over €2 billion invested in office and retail space across the United Kingdom and Ireland. One month before acquiring Fairmont St Andrews, the company purchased Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links in Dublin, Ireland for $39 million.
Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Troon is the world’s largest management company with a portfolio exceeding 250 courses.